human trafficking

Some of the seafood that winds up in American grocery stores, in restaurants, even in cat food may have been caught by Burmese slaves. That's the conclusion of a yearlong investigation by The Associated Press.

The AP discovered and interviewed dozens of men being held against their will on Benjina, a remote Indonesian island, which serves as the base for a trawler fleet that fishes in the area.

A new documentary by Fusion tells the story of Tenancingo, Mexico — just a few hours south of Mexico City. Tenancingo is in the Mexican state that is the single largest source of sex slaves who are sent to the U.S., according to the U.S. State Department.

Fusion’s documentary, “Pimp City: A Journey to the Center of the Sex Slave Trade,” takes place on both sides of the border: in Tenancingo and in Queens, New York. Many of the women taken in Tenancingo wind up working in Queens.

A new study finds spending on the underground sex trade in Seattle has gone way up. Of the cities studied, Seattle is one of only two where spending increased, and it’s not pennies: $50 million in 2003 to $112 million in 2007.

Those caught up in it call it "the life." It usually involves a pimp, coercion and prostitution.

For young victims of sex trafficking, getting out of that life and building a new one can be a monumental task. Having a rap sheet for prostitution makes it incredibly difficult to apply for jobs, or housing, or school — the things it takes to start over.

Two and a half weeks ago the FBI, in partnership with local law enforcement, conducted a cross-country sweep looking to help stop child sex trafficking. They recovered dozens of under-age victims who have been forced into prostitution, and they arrested their pimps. Three child victims were found in Washington state, and nine people were arrested here.

On Tuesday, something very different happened at FBI offices in downtown Seattle.

Understanding The Facts Behind Human TraffickingIs Seattle the number one place for sex trafficking in the country? Is Washington state third in the country? That’s what some people are hearing. Facts and figures are used to inform the public and lawmakers about human trafficking but misinformation can be passed on as well. KUOW’s Sara Lerner joins us to explain how we get the right and wrong information about human trafficking.

Reflections On CommencementSeattle’s Tom Doelger has been teaching English to high school students at Lakeside School since 1985. This time of year he’s often called on to speak to graduating students and their families. Doegler's reflections on life’s crossroads are always drawn from his own personal experiences. Doegler's path to teaching was an unlikely one. He underwent a jarring life transition as he moved from the glamorous world of 1970s Aspen, Colo. ski patrol to a job teaching writing to middle schoolers. Doelger speaks with KUOW’s Dave Beck about his book “On Occasion: Tom Doelger Speaks.”

The Woman Behind “Let’s Pretend”There weren’t a lot of female directors during the Golden Age of Radio. Nila Mack was one of the few who earned herself an office on the 14th floor of CBS beside Edward R. Murrow.

Recommended EatingFood writer Sara Dickerman joins us with a lunch recommendation. Prefer to cook for yourself? She also has a pick for a great cookbook!

It's obvious from his interview with The Guardian newspaper that Andrew Snowden knew leaking NSA secrets would get him into hot water. But he seems to have planned for that. Somehow, he's disappeared from his Hong Kong hotel room. Some have suggested he might find refuge in Russia, on mainland China, or on some remote island in the Philippines.

Christopher Pyle knows a thing or two about blowing whistles. In 1970, while in the U.S. Army, he disclosed the extent of the military's surveillance of the protest movement. That led, in part, to the Watergate scandal. Mr. Pyle now teaches politics at Mount Holyoke College and is the author of several books on military surveillance of civilians. The CBC's Carol Off asked him for insight on Snowden's situation.

Last week, we began running an outstanding series on human trafficking from WGBH called "The Underground Trade." We're halfway through, with more episodes scheduled through the week. If you've just tuned in, this is your chance to catch up.

A System Of Modern Slavery That Touches All Points On The Globe

Boston-based reporter Phillip Martin began with a police bust of a ring of massage parlors that offer more than massages. Many reporters would have stopped there. But Phillip started pulling on the "thread" of that story, and over his eight-part series, he's unraveled the whole sweater, tracing the route of human traffic all around the world to its roots in Southeast Asia.

In a recent radio piece, WGBH’s Phillip Martin explored forced prostitution in East Asia. That’s a problem in the Puget Sound region, too.

Pimps here often prey on young girls who’ve run away from home. Detective Todd Novisedlak of the Seattle Police Department says that in some ways it’s similar to cases in Vietnam. He said traffickers here, too, prey on young girls’ susceptibility to fall in love.

In New York, this school year was the first year neighborhood schools were required to accept students with special needs into regular classrooms. They've made the transition with the aid of high-tech gadgets. You can hear that story online.

Michelle Buetow says we could learn something from New York's experiment. She's co-president of Seattle's Special Education PTSA. She says although Seattle is a high-tech city, its approach to special education is decidedly low-tech. She says “it’s borderline criminal that a city built on high-tech resources has chosen not to fund these kinds of gadgets for students with special needs.” But school districts strapped for cash have struggled to find money for these kinds of technologies.

People take long flights to pay low prices for sex. In a radio story from WGBH, Phillip Martin explores the international sex tourism industry. Here in the Seattle area, Highway 99 hosts one main corridor where prostitution is easy to see. Hot spots dot the roadway, from Northgate to Sea-Tac.

Some of those prostitutes are also underage girls, forced by pimps to walk the streets. That's called child sex trafficking.

There's a new Superman movie coming out this month. Why does the story of the man of steel continue to resonate with people? Perhaps he represents a myth we like to tell ourselves: that given absolute power, we would choose to use it for good.